Glass-transfer apparatus



March 10, 1925. 1,529,584

J. H. FOX

GLAS S TRANSFER APPARATUS Filed March 27. 1924 3 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR 9 041 Tim March 10, 1925.

1,529,584 J. H. FOX

GLASS TRANSFER APPARATUS Filed March 27, 1924 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR JI I Q) @w March 10, 1925. 1,529,584

J. H. FOX

GLAS S TRANSFER APPARATUS Filed March 27, 1924 3 Sheets-Sheet. 5

'INVENTOR Patented Mar. 10, 1925.

UNITED MES} PATENT oF'FicE.

Joann. roxi or rrrrsimnofl;PENNSYLVANIA. ASSIGNOR TO PITTSBURGH PLATE onass COM-PKNYuA CORPORATION on PENNSYLVANIA.

GLASS-TRANSFER APPARATUS,

Application filed March 27. 1924. Serial Nb. 702.310.

To all who in z'tmay concern Be it known that I, JoH'N Fox, a' citi- Zen of the United States, and a' resitltzn't of Pittsburgh in tlie county of Allegheny and State of Fennsylvania, have niatle new and" useful inveiitioii' in Improvements in a Glass-Transfer Apparatus. of which the following is a specification.

The invention relates to apparatus for turningover and transferring glass plates. The apparatus is designed particularly for "picking up glass sheets from cars or tables upon one track, carrying such sheets to othercars or tables'on a second parallel track and depositing them on such other cars or tables. The two tracks pass ,beneath two series of grinding and polishing machines such asare shown in my application; Serial Nun flier"662,439 and during the transferrin g of the sheets from the cars on one track to those on the other. it is desirable to maintain an uninterrupted forward movemen t of the cars corresponding to'their movenrent under the grinding and polishiiig'machines. The present invention has for its object the provision of impioved means for giving the crane carrying the turnover and transfer means a constant forward movement corresponding to that of the car's, while at the same time permitting an independent backward and' forward movement of the crane by n'ieans of a shifting motor.

Briefly stated, this is accomplished by a mechanical connection between the carsand the crane or between the driving means for the cars and the crane, which will cause the crane to'keep pace with the movement of the cars, used in conju11 .rtion with an independent shifting motor carried by the crane and a differential gear through which both the mechanical drive and the motor drive 0perate to move the crane. The use of the differential permits the movement of the crane back and forth by the shifting motor without disconnecting the mechanical drive. Certain embodiments of the invention are illustrated in the accompanying drawings wherein:

Figure l is a side elevation of the apparatus. Fig. 2 is a transverse section. Fig. 3 is an enlarged vertical section through a part of the construction to which the invention particularly relates. And Figs 4 and 5 are end and side elevation views illustrating a modification.

The transfer mechanism for lifting the gL'is-sfrom oneset of tabl es, turning it over and pla'ciiilg'it on the other set of tables is the sa'nieas'tha't illustrated in my applica tion'QSerial Number 679.3%, but it W111 be understood" that the invention is applicable to any" type of apparatus for performing this function and m which it is desirable that the cranesupportiiigthe transfer melchanism'shotild move albn'gwitli the cars-during the turnover and transfer operation. Referrin to the "eneral arrangement of pa-rtsasfs howii'iiiFlgs. 1 antlfl. the numerals 1 and? designate a pait of parallel tracks,

upo n' whicli are mounted the 'sets of cars or carriers or tables 3 and 4, for conveying the glasssheet's to be surfaced beneath a series of grinders and polish'ersin a straight away operation. Any desired means may be employed for movliigthe-tables 3 ahead at a constant and uniform speed, but the apparatus preferably employed consists of a series of motorso arranged at suitable intervals along the line of each track and driving through suitable reduction gearing. includ ng tliepin'ions 6, and the spur gears 7, which in turn engage racks 8 arranged in abutting relation beneath the cars or tables. The pinions G are mounted upon laterally extending'shafts 9 which carry at their outer ends the grooved pulleys 10' for giving the crane mounted above the tracks a forward movement corresponding to that of the cars. as' hereinafter described.

The crane 11 which carries the turnover apparatus is mounted for movement longitudinally of the tracks upon the rails 12. which are in turn supported by the brackets 13 carried by the vertical channels 1 1. preferably constituting a portion of the superstructure in which the apparatus is located. Mounted for movement transversely of the crane are a pair of cars 15 and 16 provided with suitable raising and lowering drums froni which depend the cables 17 supporting the bails 18. These bails have at their lower ends the swinging vacuum frames 19 and 20, each provided with vacuum cups 31 and 22 for supporting the glass during the transfer operation. In carrying out this operation. the trolley car 15 is brought to a position over the car 3 and the frame 19 is loweredltlo the position indicated in dotted lines at A, so that the vacuum cups engage the glass sheet 23 along one edge, after which the frame 19 is lifted to the position indicated in full lines. The frame 20 is'then caused to approach the frame 19 until the vacuum cups 22 engage the face of the sheet opposite the cups 21. The vacuum in the cups 21 is then released, thus transferring the sheet to the frame 20 as indicated in full lines. The frame 20 with the glass carried thereon is moved to the left until its lower edge engages the left hand edge of the table 4, after which the frame 20 is lowered to allow the sheet of glass to rest upon the table, the dotted lines B and C indicating the successive positions occupied in placing the sheet upon the table 4. It will be noted that this operation involves the reversal of the sheet in transferring it fro-m the table 3 to the table 4 so that the smooth side which was uppermost on the table 3 is turned down when the sheet is placed upon the table 4e During the transfer operation as just described, it is desirable that the crane 11 move along with the cars 4 so that there is no relative movement between the crane and the carsduring the transfer operation, and furthermore that this forward movement of the crane be secured with a minimum amount of attention and labor on the part of the operator of the crane. The means whereby this is accomplished will now be described.

The crane is driven from the shaft 24 carrying the wheels 25 which engage the rails 12. Two means are employe for driving thisv shaft 24, one being the motor 26 carried by the crane and the other being the cable 27 driven from the groovedpulley 10 carried upon the shaft 9 as heretofore referred to. Both of these drives operate through the differential gear 28 so that each drive can continue in driving connection with the shaft without interfering with the other. The differential comprises a spider 29 keyed to the shaft 24 and provided with laterally extending stub shafts 30 upon which are mounted the bevel pinions 31. These pinions mesh with a pair of bevel gears 32 and 33 having integral sleeves 34 and 35 surrounding the shaft 24 and having keyed thereto the spur gears 36 and 37. The gear 87 is operated from the pinion 38 arried by the shaft of the motor 26, While the ear 36 is operated from the pinion 39 carried by the shaft 40 and driven through the intermediary of the cone clutch 41 from the groved pulley 42 carried by the shaft 43.

The endless cable 27 is arranged so as to pass around the pulleys 10, 44, 45, 46, 47, 42, 48. 49, and 51 as indicated in Fig. l, the drive being provided by the pulley 10 which is mounted upon the shaft 9 as heretofore referred to. In order to keep the cable tight and take up any slack incident to stretching, the pulley 45 is carried by an adjustable block 52 whichmay be moved in and out by means of the screw 53 provided with a handle 54. The cone clutch 41 is provided with an inner movable member 55 splined on the shaft 40 and movable by means of the handle 56. A spring 57 normally tends toseparate the clutch members, but such members are held in engagement by means of a magnet 58. At times it may become desirable to unclutch the cable drive and in such, case, this is readily accomplished by means of a push button or switch to interrupt the flow of current through the winding of the magnet. The motor 26 has its shaft provided with the usual magnet brake 59 so that when the motor is not running, the cable drive through the differential will be operative to move the crane and will not run the motor backward instead, such as would be the case if the motor shaft were not provided with the brake. This brake performs the usual function of stopping the motor quickly after current is shut ofl and thus stopping the movement of the crane.

In operation, the crane is driven forwardly by the cable drive so that it follows the movement of the cars 4 during the trans for of the glass sheet from one table to the one opposite. After the glass has been transferred, the crane must move back to its original position and this is accomplished by means of the motor 26 which operates through the differential 28 to rotate the shaft 24 backwardly. During this backward movement, there is no interference from the cable drive due to the'differential, the motor 26 operating at a much higher sped than the cable drive so that it can move the shaft 24 backwardly despite the continuous forward drive of the cable. The opera tor is thus relieved of the labor of clutching and unclutching the cable drive such as would be the case if the differential were not employed.

Figs. 4 and 5 illustrate a modification in which the motor and cable drives areboth employed as in the construction just described, but the differential is omitted and the cable is clamped directly to the crane platform when it is desired that the crane shall move ahead with the cars or tables carrying the glass. In this construction, the motor drive and the cable drive are entirely independent, and the cable 60, which is driven in the same manner as the cable 27 of the other construction is gripped be tween a pair of shoes 61 and 62 which are carried by the crane. In order to take care of the sag of the cable and hold it straight between the shoes, a pair of grooved rollers 63 are provided upon the crane. The lower shoe 62 is carried upon a lever 64 pivoted at 65, and this shoe is brought into gripping engagement with the cable by means of an electromagnet 67. A spring 66 serves to insure the release of the cable from the shoe when the circuit through the magnet is interrupted. The circuit through the magnet is controlled by suitable switch or push button and this may be so arranged that the breaking of the circuit is automatically accomplished when current is supplied to the shifting motor corresponding to the motor 26 of the first form of constrrrtion. As a result, the cable will h. released from the shoe (2 when the shifting motor is started and will be gripped between the shoes when the shifting motor is stopped, thus relieving the operator of the labor ct attending to the clutching and unclutching of the cable gripping device. Since the ca ble 60, as used in the Figs 4 and 5 construction, if driven from the grooved pulley 10 of the Fig. 1 construction would move the crane or platform in the reverse direction from that of the car 4. it would be necessary (in order to drive the crane in the same direction as the ear) to place such grooved pulley on the axle which arries the spur gear 7, or else use some other driving arrangement to give the upper flight of the cable the same direction of movement as the car.

While the crane or platform 11, as illustratcd and described, is located above the tracks and provided with a laying frame of a particular type, the in ention is not limited to these details, as the platform might be located along the side of the track and at any desired level and with any desired equi nnent for handling the glass. Such a platform arranged to move with the cars between the tracks during the laying operation, and independently thereof at other times, would involve a high degree of on- Vcnicnce even if no laying frame were einployed.

What I claim is:

l. In combination in a system for surfacing sheet glass, having a track with cars or tables on said track and means for moving the car along the track, a plate glass trans for and laying frame mounted above the track for movement longitudinally thereof, mechanical connections driven from Said means for moving the cars, adapted to shift said frame forwardly with the cars at the same rate of speed as the cars, and a motor for giving the frame a movement longitudinally of the track at a higher rate of speed than said movement of the cars.

In combination in a system for surfacing sheet glass, having a track with cars or tables in said truck and means for moving the cars along the tracks, a plate glass transfer and laying frame mounted above the track for movement longitudinally thereof, mechanical connections, including a difi'erential gear driven from the means for moving the cars, adapted to shift said frame forwardly with the cars at the same rate of speed as the cars, and an electric motor operating through said differential gear for moving the frame back and forth along the track without disconnecting the drive through said connections.

in combination in a system for surfacing sheet glass, having a track with cars or iahles on said track and means for moving the cars along the track, a plate glass transt'cr and laying frame mounted above the tracli for movement longitudinally thereof, mechanical connections, including an endless cable drisen from the means for mor ing the cars, adapted to shift said frame forwardly with the cars at the same rate of speed, and a motor for moving the frame back and forth independent of the drive by said cable.

4i. In combination in a system for surfacing sheet glass, having a track with cars or tables on said track and means for moving the cars along the track, a plate glass transfer and laying frame mounted above the track for movement longitudinally thereof, mechanical connections, including an endless cable driven from the means for moving the cars, adapted to shift said frame forwardly with the cars at the same rate of speed, an electric shifting motor for moving the crane back and forth, and an electrically operated clutch whereby the drive by the cable may be connected and disconnected.

3. In combination in a system for surfacing sheet glass, having a track with cars or tables on said trai k and means for moving the cars along the track, a platform for use in handling and laying the glass mounted on a track parallel to the track on which the cars are mounted, mechanical connections dri\en from said means which move the cars adapted to shift said platform forwartly with the cars at the same rate of speed as the are, and a motor for giving the platform movements back and forth longitudinally of the track at a higher rate of speed.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto subscribed my name this 21st day of March, 1924.

JOHN H. FOX. 

